84 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



salt. The crew must man and sail the vessel, and catch, dress, and salt the fish. They usually 

 pay for half of the bait and ice, and hire their own cook. 



Nearly all of the Portland vessels engaged in the bank cod fisheries carry dories for hand-lining, 

 none of them being provided with trawls on account of the additional expense involved in their 

 use. These vessels as fitted for an average trip usually carry from 125 to 150 hogsheads of salt 

 and about 40 barrels of clam-bait. On their return the meu are expected to land and wash the fish 

 and to put the vessel in order. This done their work is completed, and they are at liberty to turn 

 their attention to other occupations or to ship in other vessels. The fish are "made" by profes- 

 sional curers, who take one quintal in twelve in payment for their labor. 



As a rule the fisherman has no ready money, and must be furnished with a certain quantity of 

 provisions for his family during his absence. The owners usually assume the responsibility of 

 furnishing a limited quantity of goods to each man, but care is now taken that their value 

 shall not exceed $30. Each member of the crew keeps his fish separate, and receives a share 

 in proportion to the number taken by him. On his return his proportional part of the trip is 

 figured up, and more goods are advanced, if necessary, provided his share of the trip is thought to 

 considerably exceed the value of the goods already furnished. He must wait, however, until the 

 fish have been cured and sold, and the money has been received by the owners before he can settle 

 his accounts in full. Some of the men being anxious to get their money immediately, will sell 

 their interest in the catch as soon as they arrive, to the fitters or owners, at a considerable sacrifice. 



In the mackerel fishery the vessels fit "at the halves," the fish being usually sold at the end 

 of each trip, though they are occasionally retained till the close of the season. Portland was among 

 the first towns to send vessels to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence for mackerel. According to Mr. 

 Gushing, one of the oldest inspectors in the city, she sent her first vessel to that region in 1832, 

 and has continued the business regularly ever since. She has now, next to Gloucester, the largest 

 mackerel fleet in the United States, having twenty-eight sail of vessels owned by Portland capital 

 engaged in the purse-seine mackerel fishery. 



In 1879 sixteen of the vessels fished wholly in the Gulf of Maine; seven fished from Cape 

 Hatteras to Mount Desert Island ; two spent a greater part of the season in the Gulf of Saint 

 Lawrence, and two divided their time between the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Gulf of Maine. 

 In 1880, so far as we have been able to learn, none of the fleet fished in British waters. In addition 

 to the above, nineteen of the shore vessels engaged in the mackerel fishery with line or net during 

 the height of the season. 



The shore-fishing vessels, numbering thirty -two sail, are engaged in the capture of cod, hake, 

 haddock, pollock, cusk, mackerel, and herring, fishing first for one kind and then another, accord- 

 ing to the season, or the relative abundance of the different species. The fishing season begins 

 about the first of April and continues till late in November. Formerly many of the smaller craft 

 fished for menhaden with gill-nets, but as none of these fish have visited the waters of the State 

 since 1878, they have been obliged to engage in other fisheries. 



Early in September large schools of herring make their appearance along the outer shores, 

 and most of the smaller vessels, with many of the boats, are engaged in their capture for a number 

 of weeks. The herring are taken in gill-nets, and sold to the packers and smokers. 



During the winter months haddock are quite abundant, and nine of the local vessels, together 

 with some from other places, are engaged in this fishery, selling their catch to the smokers, who 

 prepare them for shipment to Canada and different parts of the United States. Trawls are used 

 in this fishery, and the catch is often enormous, while the price paid makes the profits to the fisher- 

 men larger than those of any other fishery. 



